19 Iron Maiden

When Marcellus thought of this whole kidnapping, he expected that Winter would at least be fazed.

Sure, it was not a full-blown one, and it was a last-minute plan. His timing may not even good for the kind of scenario he wanted to make here, considering that she would definitely have an idea who was behind it. He might even appear petty for conducting such an underhanded scheme to a highschooler who had nothing she could use against him.

There was that video that she took back in the haunted house, which she used to blackmail him. However, he realized that such a threat would not be enough to force him to dance on the palm of her hand. Then again, he had all the power to do some damage control and manage the aftermath if it were to get released in public.

Therefore, Winter is nothing at all.

To Marcellus, she is only a mere source of information and an extraneous variable in his plan.

"Thanks for the ride and the treat! How thoughtful of you to send your bodyguards to escort me~"

And yet, here she is getting on his nerves again.

Both of them are inside his office at the moment - with him sitting on his rolling chair behind his desk and her on the chair that his secretary prepared for her at the opposite side. His bodyguards arrived with her a minute ago. But before that, he was already about to give them a call since they had been out longer than he expected.

It didn't even take him a moment to know why they spent much more time than he wanted them to.

"Ride? Treat? Escort...? Do you even know what kind of situation you are in now, Ms. Agreste?"

Perhaps, she does not.

Marcellus can tell so since Winter is acting even more carefree and easygoing than usual.

Apparently, she had his bodyguards take a detour at a cafe and buy her a vanilla frappe - in exchange, she continued to cooperate with them. He couldn't really grasp what happened back there, but to put it simply, she had made her kidnappers treat her to some sweets on their way to their boss.

And now, Winter is indulging in her vanilla frappe and enjoying the fact that it is bought with someone else's money to her heart's content - not even a bit least fazed nor perplexed nor nervous.

Marcellus was sure that any girl her age would be anything but this when they got abducted. This is quite a slap on his face, and this is probably enough to convince him that he should not really treat her like any other girl her age.

"So, then..." Winter started, getting serious at last.

"How should we go around this now, Mr. Marcellus Lexington? I believe we are already past the introductions."

"Indeed, we are. Perhaps, we can start by having you call me a much shorter name...?" Marcellus quipped with a small smirk, deciding to take on another attitude if he could not deal with her by being serious and stern.

"You can call me by my nickname if you want. I can feel we're going to get closer from now on."

He flashes her a blindingly dazzling smile right then - one that always makes women melt in a puddle goo.

But then, being the iron maiden that she probably is, she only continues sipping from her vanilla frappe while shooting him a flat, uninterested look. She knows that tone and expression all too well, and from that alone, she can tell that he is now trying to treat her like how he treats other women.

"Nah, I like to make things harder for me. I'll just call you by your full name," Winter said in nonchalance, making Marcellus drop his smile at once.